“There is an appetite for the services of private military and security companies (PMSCs) in Nigeria, despite its far-reaching legal and political implications. Since Nigeria returned to multi-party democracy in 1999, more of these PMSCs have been engaged by the government and multinational oil companies to support the national security agencies to combat new and emerging security challenges in at least two areas: a) stemming the wave of militancy and crime in the oil-rich but volatile Niger-Delta, and b) fighting the Boko Haram (roughly translated as ‘Western education is prohibited’) insurgency in the north-east. In both cases, no clear national law is in place specifically allowing or regulating how foreign PMSCs are to be contracted or to operate within the country. This policy brief makes a case for Nigeria to adopt and implement the Montreux Document relating to the operations of PMSCs as a precursor to enacting sound legislation on them. The Document provides guidance for developing national legislations and policy guidelines for regulating the operations of PMSCs.”
